by Angela White
Tonya lifted her chin. “Then I’d say good luck, ‘cause that’s in the job description.”
Angela stared at her. “Yes, it is.”
She studied Tonya’s tense profile, her acceptable clothes and fiery green eyes. She was trying to fit in and succeeding. Would she be able to bring that determination to a team? “Can you shoot?”
“Level three.”
“Self-defense?”
“Level two in kai. Kenn teaches me in his downtime.”
“Organization, following orders?”
“Won’t be a problem, no matter where I’m put. He’s helped me get a schedule down that I’m good with.”
The other females began to realize that Tonya’s interview was being taken seriously. Her answers were too good for this to be a joke.
“What about your lust for power?”
Tonya spoke her heart. “Fading in place of the dream, like with everyone else who joins his damn refugee camp.”
Angela was satisfied. “Thank you for coming.”
Tonya shrugged, turning toward the flap. “Just seemed like I was supposed to.”
7
“Hang on.”
Kyle caught Tonya’s attention as she ducked out.
Tonya braced to hear that she’d never be allowed to be one of them. Kenn had warned her that the senior Eagles wouldn’t like it.
“You gave good answers.” Kyle studied her thoughtfully. “You really think you can kill?”
Tonya was astonished that he hadn’t cut her dead. “Yes. I have enough hatred to let out when it’s needed.”
Kyle motioned to a mutated ant wandering in panicked circles as it tried to pick up the scent of the colony over the dog odors. “End that. Now.”
Tonya had noticed the training lessons using knives on the mutations and slid hers out of its sheath. She didn’t know why she was being given a chance, but she wanted it.
The throw was good. Not great, it only stuck in the ant’s rear end and caused it to emit a low shriek. Still, she hit it, and Kyle was impressed.
“Again, and finish it off this time.” He tossed her his knife and was surprised when she caught it.
Tonya flipped the knife around and threw, harder. It pinned the ant to the ground, ending the barely audible cries–the newest mutation. Ants were developing vocal communication.
“Very nice.”
They both spun to find Angela at the flap.
She raised a brow. “Anything else I should know?”
Kyle shook his head. “Nope.”
“Good. Carry on.”
She vanished into the tent, and Kyle snorted. That felt so much like Adrian that it was perfect. She was going to be a good leader.
Tonya retrieved both blades with no signs that it bothered her to rip them free of the ant.
Kyle took his back, seeing she automatically wiped hers on her jeans. Interesting. How much was this one ready for?
Tonya gave him a nod, understanding she’d gone up in Angela’s opinion. “Thanks.”
Kyle pointed at the training area where half a dozen of his remaining team was practicing on the ant colony lining their western perimeter in search of scraps. “Tell them I sent you. Stay a few minutes and make an impression.”
Tonya’s mouth fell open in shock. “Why? You hate me.”
Kyle thought of how Adrian had put her to work during the sinkhole, and of how she’d still been at it come dawn. “No one hates you anymore. You’ve been forgiven. Don’t stop earning it.”
Tonya smiled, one without greed or seduction, and it made her beautiful.
“You’re in good with the girl. She digs you a lot now.”
“I hope so,” Kyle grunted, fading into the shadows of the tent he was guarding. “I’d miss this shit.”
Inside the tent, Angela’s stony gaze raked the twenty-two females waiting restlessly. They were the best of the lot, minus those she’d sent away first, and Angela gave them a challenging smirk. “Who’s ready to get dirty?”
She approved of their wary expressions. They were right to be concerned. Next, to narrow down the field, was work with the animals. The vet was bringing a load of dogs by, the ones they’d found in the Library in Wichita, and they still stank. The rest of the evening would be spent grooming those fortunate animals and noting who had the stamina for it. After that, she would take them to the kids’ area.
Adrian had three failsafe ways to determine the character of a camp member, and Angela planned to use them all. No one could hide their true nature around animals, children, and the elderly, all in the same night. Come bedtime, she would have her list ready to be posted. As it was, she now knew who was going to be on her right, and it was as much a shock to her as it would be to everyone else.
8
“Can I go?”
Kenn regarded the sexy redhead who had just appeared at his side, very pleased that she’d spent the last half hour helping to clear ants from the perimeter with Kyle’s team. He was also shocked that the mobster had not only allowed it, he’d evaluated her during, studying her like he did with all their rookies.
“Depends.”
Tonya frowned. “On what now?”
“On you being able to keep your mouth shut and follow orders for two hours.”
Tonya didn’t censor her reaction. She hugged Kenn tightly and pressed a quick kiss to his scruffy cheek. With a shaggy crew cut and pouty lips, she still thought he was as good looking as Adrian. Did he think about her that way, compared to Angela? Tonya let it go. It didn’t matter. He was hers now, and that did.
Seeing Kenn and Tonya moving through camp together drew attention. Tall and dark, with sexy red, it was sometimes like watching a model and her bodyguard with the way Tonya liked to strut and Kenn liked to smirk. Always cool and calm now, Kenn had started to regain the respect he’d lost. The camp females were beginning to let him know they were interested again, but he wasn’t. Earning back his place and providing one for Tonya were his goals now, and no one could hold a candle to that. Kenn felt that he’d done something nice for her, but in reality, she would probably be bored and cause chaos. He might even catch trouble for it, but if he was wrong and she did well, Angela would honestly evaluate her, as she was with Sam and Cynthia.
That sent Kenn’s thoughts to the small group who’d been enjoying the bonfire lately. Seth and Becky were often joined by his team, and Ray and Dale, with the vet sometimes in tow. Adrian was pleased to discover that they’d made friends. Seth and Ray were currently directing camp traffic and putting up with glowers and silence, but Kenn had little doubt where they’d be in a few hours. And the thing was, it was drawing other people that he hadn’t thought would ever mix with them, such as Kyle and Jennifer. The campfire group, as they were becoming known, had nearly a dozen members now. Adrian said they were healing each other’s wounds. Kenn didn’t question it. His need to fight was gone. And he owed them for that, didn’t he?
Kenn wasn’t sure, but he was willing to keep proving he belonged here, even though many of Adrian’s top men had now shown that they, too, were human enough to screw up. All he had to do was join the group at the fire, Tonya with him, and he would be accepted.
Maybe even forgiven, but if he did, that wouldn’t be the reason. If he showed up in support, it would be to tell the camp that he’d had enough of their treatment. Seth and Becky, Kyle and Jennifer, Ray and Dale, and himself with Tonya–they’d all made mistakes, but it was time to let it go and pull together. It was something Adrian would do himself if he could have gotten away with it.
9
“Got a minute?”
Adrian followed Angela into the deepest shadows, where only their two personal guards could hear them. When she turned around with that V standing out in her chin, Adrian immediately caved. “Just tell me, and I’ll do it.”
Angela was satisfied that he understood. “Make sure he sees you with someone tonight. And then, make sure he keeps seeing it.”
Adrian had already thought
of that. “Anything else?”
Angela held out a sheet of paper. “This is my team.”
Adrian looked it over without revealing how he felt about those eight names.
Angela didn’t wait for a response. She left him there and went to get cleaned up. She wanted to be ready, not a cactus.
Nearby, Marc watched with dark eyes. When Angie was inside the shower camper–Jeff lurking in the shadows–Marc turned to look at Adrian.
Adrian pretended not to have noticed Marc, instead breaking his own rule about being with a woman publicly. He motioned toward a willing female and was out of Marc’s sight seconds later.
The camp wasn’t surprised to see Adrian with one of the whores–they’d come to expect it after understanding he wasn’t the type to have a mate yet–but Marc’s eyes narrowed in thoughtful speculation.
He looked toward the showers, and then back to where Adrian was disappearing into the rear of his semi. Angie had set that up, he was suddenly certain.
What did it mean?
Nothing, he decided. She wanted Adrian satisfied so he would stop sending out those waves of need. Marc could live with that.
10
Word spread that Kenn was taking a team of female rookies out of camp, and those Angela had interviewed in the tent began to show up at the parking area where he was packing the truck. Some stared in envy, some snorted in embarrassed scorn, but the rest understood that a big moment could change things.
By the time Kenn had the vehicle and gear ready, there were twenty women waiting at the tape with eager faces.
Kenn started pointing, picking a team of eight lucky rookies for their first mission out of camp.
“Samantha, Cynthia, Tonya, Crista,” he paused, ignoring the mutters at his girlfriend being chosen. He swept the group and picked out one that he was surprised to find. Shouldn’t she be at the bonfire with Seth?
“Becca, Tracy, Leslie…” There was only one spot left, and Kenn sighed, doing his duty. “Peggy.”
The older woman didn’t move, but swept the teenager in worried concern. She’d come for a minute with her daughter, not to chaperone, Kenn realized in relief. Then he frowned. She still didn’t understand that little Becky wasn’t little anymore.
Kenn waved at the stack of double vests in the rear of the truck. “Get one on and get in.”
After they reluctantly helped each other, the females automatically headed for the back, leaving the front seat for Peggy.
“Hey.” Kenn pointed. “She’s here as a rookie, same as you. No special consideration is warranted.”
A mad dash for shotgun ensued, and Kenn snickered as the first three women there began to fight it out. While they were struggling, a slender form climbed into the rear and then over the seat to claim the spot.
“Time’s up!”
Kenn’s shout directed the fighting trio’s attention to the now claimed passenger seat.
“Hey!”
“You didn’t fight for it!”
Becky raised a brow at their surprise. “Why fight for it, if I can take it? Rookie Lesson 9. How to properly supply your own needs,” she sneered, showing an ugly side that made her mother’s eyes narrow. “I’ll be able to give her everything as XO because there’s nothing else I want. She knows that, and now, so do all of you.”
Becky was the youngest female here, but she’d made it clear that she wasn’t to be dismissed.
“Let’s go,” Kenn instructed, worried about a real fight starting, but Becky wasn’t finished.
“I want time from each of you, training me in the ways the men won’t.”
Sam sat up, shoving Tonya’s tightly packaged butt over so she could see Becky. “Why would we do that? You’re obviously holding a grudge, and we’ve pretty much let it go.”
Becky’s eyes blazed. “Of course you have. You didn’t pay for your mistakes the way I did!”
Instead of the expected guilt, Sam’s mind flew to her journey to Safe Haven. “That’s not true. I’ve paid the same price you have, a few times over.”
Becky considered that. Knowing Samantha was also a rape survivor absolutely made a difference.
“You know we’re going to have to work together?” Sam asked pointedly.
Becky snorted. “Team work is a hard lesson. I hear you guys aren’t so good at it, either.”
Samantha had the grace to flush, still stinging from Angela’s dismissal.
“We’ll learn it together,” Tonya offered, overjoyed to find herself here, a part of the solution instead of the chaos.
It drew attention to her, including Kenn’s, and she scowled in return. “What? You guys weren’t the only ones who had shit to work through. Even outcast whores can have a place in his paradise.”
Kenn waited for them to deny it and finally allowed himself to celebrate his success at her transformation when none of them did.
“Boo-ya, baby,” he murmured too low to be heard. Tonya wanted to be an Eagle, a real one, and Adrian could now support that. Some of the camp’s hardest, most loyal and trustworthy women were the outcasts–the whores the men went to in secret when Adrian’s strict rules became too hard to obey. The boss wanted the entire herd in his army, and that included those who had been kind enough to offer quiet comfort to his Eagles.
Kenn looked at the silent females still on the ground and then to the sneering girl in the passenger seat. All of this had come about because Angela had had the strength to overcome what he’d done to her. The shit he’d put her through had been bad–enough to break some of the men he’d served with before the war.
Kenn felt his heart, that small, cold, organ he’d had no use for, swell with new life. He had no more hopes of holding her again, or even getting closer than they were right now, but it was a tiny secret that he would hold close as he went through his days. By never giving in, Angela had healed him enough that Kenn was finally able to able love someone other than himself.
“Are we done here?” he asked gruffly, hiding the happiness his male mind told him he was required to cover. Decades of training beaten into him wouldn’t allow anything else.
“Yes.” Becky answered, sounding more like an adult than any of the camp had ever heard from her. “We were something else before. Now, we’re Eagles in his army. We’ll all honor that.”
The tension broke with those familiar words.
Sam offered Cynthia a hand and then pulled her up. They shared a rueful look and then offered a hand to Tonya. She took both hands with a smirk, then shoved her way past them to take the seat behind Becky.
Everyone else was chuckled, including those watching from the perimeter tape. They’d caught glimpses of the men at moments like this and hadn’t understood. Being set free from society’s preconceived notions that women were the weaker sex was intoxicating.
As the truck left camp, another sharp flood of happy excitement filled the cabin, and Kenn knew that he’d chosen the right females for this quick recon. He’d been training the females, but hadn’t been allowed to be alone with any of them except Tonya, until now. Knowing that he had regained the boss man’s trust boosted Kenn’s mood and increased his willingness to keep training them. He would please the entire camp with it, but more than that, he would be atoning to Adrian and Angela.
“Did that just happen?” Marc asked, shocked.
“Yes.” Angela understood what it meant. “Things will be better now for the Eagles.”
Marc sensed that she didn’t want to talk about her team. “Charlie’s had a lot of questions lately.”
Angela sighed, not ready for her son to become a part of the couples that were forming in Safe Haven.
“Angie.”
She stopped. Charlie did have a crush on someone. Marc was thinking it. “I know he’s growing up. I don’t have to like it.”
Marc chuckled. He hadn’t told her the details, but he knew she suspected that they were guy talks. “We’ll handle it. Another day.”
She smiled gratefully. She was tired and
a bit restless, a feeling all of the Eagles were sharing as they pushed hard to reach Little Rock. Despite the personal torment, Adrian would have slowed their pace to avoid spooking the herd. Kenn and Angela, however, agreed that the evidence of nature’s determination to wipe humankind from existence would keep this camp rolling with few complaints. They didn’t like being out in the open anymore. As a result, they were now just days from Adrian’s goal, his fear.
Marc guided Angela towards the room he’d prepared for them. It ran the length of the house and had a wide mattress that he had checked and covered in clean sheets not long after seeing Adrian direct her there. Thick drapes would hide their shadows, and Marc’s respect for their leader increased even as the inner male gloated. Giving this couldn’t have been easy.
Marc flashed a menacing glare at two rookies lingering in the shadows, their jealousy clear for all to see.
She’s mine, he sent. Go away or die.
They left in a hurry.
“Where’s the fourth tattoo? Your ass?”
Marc’s head swung her way, and Angela snickered at his expression, stopping at the door. “Just curious.”
“My ass.”
Angela’s heart thumped and heat rushed to her chilly limbs. “What is it?”
Marc leaned against the door, folding his arms across his chest. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
Angela loved it that she was getting the old Marc. She had Adrian to thank for it. He’d let the tiger out of the cage.
“Come on. Tell me your secrets.”
Marc’s breath caught. He had a lot of those, but the only one he could think of right now was wrapping his hands in that silken hair and kissing her until they were both aching.
“On my left cheek. It was a dare.”
“It better not be me again. On the hip works, but I don’t think I’m okay with you sitting on my face or something.”
Marc chortled and advanced. He reached out to tickle her, and the instant their skin touched, electricity flew.
Angela tensed and quickly backed up.
Marc followed her. “What is it?”
Angela wasn’t sure what to say. Flirting was fun, and she was attracted to him, but the fear of physical contact hadn’t gone away. She’d just learned to hide it better. She wouldn’t be healed until these flinches were gone, and she suspected that letting Marc make love to her was the key. If she got through it without him hurting her...
